The health service across Mid Devon will face “some challenges” due to housing expansion, the Council has warned.

Speaking at a scrutiny committee meeting on Monday, January 15, Public Health Officer Kevin Swift outlined measures being taken to make sure health services and the Council are working together.

He said: “The housing expansion that has been proposed in Mid Devon is obviously going to create some challenges for the health service, but I think we’ve also got to note that it’s not all going to happen overnight.

“We wouldn’t have an additional 10,000 people suddenly appearing in Cullompton. This will be a phased approach to a phased development, so that gives us time to plan health services.

“I work closely with my public health Devon colleagues, and we have put in place a couple of things we think we think will help MDDC in this process. First of all, we’re starting off by connecting with the planning department here, and we have set up a workshop on February 8. It’s about trying to get public health and planning to work together regarding the provision of health services in Cullompton and also in the Garden Village.

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“I don’t think you’ll see a new hospital in that area, but it’s obviously going to rely on GP provision and certainly in the coming months and years I think we need to make sure that we set in train the process of developing that model and listening to the community, in particular, to see how we best meet the needs of the community.

“We’ve already started that process of dialogue with planning and with Devon Public Health, and we hope to continue that as we go forward.”

The Culm Valley Integrated Centre for Health in Cullompton

Councillor Nick Way raised issues facing his ward and surrounding areas near Crediton.

He said: “There are some quite big changes going on there. We’ve had our community beds taken away several years ago. We are still some of us scratching our heads because we were promised information about a new health hub which we still don’t know about and there are issues there. There are also other related issues regarding our GPs surgeries generally, so all I’m saying is that I understand and you’re quite right to be doing this, but it’s just that we have these big issues as well and we would like some attention.

“I’m hoping that we will be getting a local health board as you like together with the RD&E and also with input from the CCG as well. We have the meeting in March, but even with that in mind it’s something that’s concerning us on the other side of the district.”

Mr Swift said things had moved forward very slowly and that he was happy to meet with people in Crediton.

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Councillor Jenny Roach said she felt more needed to be done. “To me, it’s about the extra development right across the district, and I’m still not getting answers on how they’re going to deal with the increasing demand,” she said.

“There is obviously an issue. The hospital is saying they’ve got a plan and not to panic, but they haven’t got a plan because it hasn’t worked. The Government has had to cancel operations.

“What concerns me is having the jargon of continuing the journey of changing the culture and behaviours around discharging people and keeping patients in hospital. The culture and behaviour around that is the fact that there is nowhere for people to go.

“A neighbour of mine has had his father have a serious stroke and also has Alzheimer’s. He has been in the hospital for seven weeks when he didn’t need to be in there taking an acute bed when he should have been somewhere else.

“We’re not having our questions answered. I’d just like to get somebody who can tell the truth about how much bed blocking is going on and what they’re going to do about it.”